Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, also known as James Albert, was born around 1705 in the Bornu Empire in what is now Nigeria, and was sold into slavery as a child, eventually transported to New York and purchased by a Dutch Reformed minister, Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen.
Gronniosaw remained with the Frelinghuysen family for over twenty years, learning to read and developing a deep Christian faith, and was emancipated upon his enslaver's death, later working as a cook on a privateer during the Seven Years' War.
He enlisted in British military service to secure passage across the Atlantic, eventually settling in England, where he was baptised, married an English weaver, and raised a family in Colchester and later Kidderminster.
In the late 1760s Gronniosaw dictated his life story to a young woman in Leominster, and it was published in Bath in 1772 as A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African Prince, widely considered the first slave narrative published in England.
The Narrative went through multiple editions and influenced later writers, including Olaudah Equiano, who referenced Gronniosaw in his own celebrated 1789 autobiography; Gronniosaw died in poverty in Chester in 1775.
- Author of the first slave narrative published in England, 1772
- One of the earliest Africans to publish an autobiography in the English language
- His Narrative influenced later writers including Olaudah Equiano
- Went through multiple editions and reprintings across Britain and America
- A life story can outlast the poverty of the person who lived it. Gronniosaw died with little money, yet his Narrative has been continuously reprinted for over 250 years.
- Being first opens doors for others. His Narrative directly influenced how later writers like Equiano structured their own life stories.